In-N-Out to Las Vegas with Aliens, Mad Greeks and Elvis?

In the 300 mile or so drive to Vegas from LA, there’s a lot of desert, and a bit of kitsch. Yup, you don’t even have to wait until you get to Vegas for the Elvis fortune-tellers, the fake statue replicas, and yes, even aliens. Not Area 51, just Alien Fresh Jerky.

Yes, I know. Alien jerky? Well, in the long drive and slow traffic between LA and Vegas and the need for a bathroom break, I figured, sure, why not. Seemed interesting enough. So how was it? “I want to believe” it was alien fresh jerky, but it, well, tasted a lot like regular beef jerky, just with a bit of added marketing costs for flavouring.

Just right next store was Mad Greek, which appears to have been done by a Greek person who’s a bit, well, um, mad? It’s always nice to see an Italian Renaissance statue of Michelangelo’s David in the parking lot of an authentic Greek restaurant claiming to have the best gyros in the U.S. As for their claim to the best gyros in the U.S.? Well, just look at the photo below and you tell me if it looks like the best gryo in the U.S… At least I thought they had good calamari, and the bathroom was clean.

I actually did two trips to Vegas recently, so that’s about 1200 miles, and over 20 hrs on the road. So I figured I’d also make a stop at Peggy Sue’s 50′s Diner, a classic roadside diner built in 1954 that exists almost as it did over 50 years ago, and serving up classic malt shakes, floats, sundaes, burgers, and good old American Pie. It was as if I was stepping into a time warp and basically eating at Norms, just a bit kitsch-ed up. The country gravy was good, although I had to ask a few people afterwards if chicken-fried steak is actually made with chicken, because even after 350 or so Michelin stars under my belt, I couldn’t quite figure out the mystery meat.

And then there was In-N-Out. Ok, if you’re from California, yes, this is nothing special. But for everyone else in the world, this is THE place to go for burgers. I see my brothers scarfing down 3x3s, 4x4s and animal fries on a very consistent basis, but I just don’t get it. I prefer a Whopper at Burger King, the double cheeseburger at Jack in the Box, or even the Zinger or double down at KFC over this place. But since I was with friends, and they wanted In-N-Out, and since everyone non-Californian asks me about In-N-Out, I figured I’d throw in a few photos below.

Eitherway, I wouldn’t go out of my way for any of these places, but they make good rest stops if you get car sick. Enjoy the photos! Btw, I’m still sitting on a ton of photos, and just backed up on my posts. More to come.

About 3starbackpacker

I'm just an average guy who loves to eat and travel. I backpacked to every 2007 Michelin 3 Star in the world in less than 12 months, have over 350 stars under my belt, and have eaten (and drunken) my way through over 70 countries downing anything and everything that looked vaguely interesting.